Deathlands, My Way
by Stevie Rae Johnson-The Red One
Summary: After being unfrozen by Ryan Cawdor's band of survivors, Katie & Dean travel around the Deathlands, becoming like just anyone else.But when they return to their home vill,and Katie's secret is exposed, will they be accepted by their surrogate family?
1. Chapter 1

Ryan Cawdor, a tall man with curly brown hair and only one eye, was piloting the war wag across what used to be Arkansas, if the maps were correct. Krysty Roth, a tall woman with fiery red hair that seemed to move of its own accord, sat next to him, using the muty senses taught to her by Mother Sonya back in her home vill of Harmony. J.B. Dix was going through the monotonous, yet relaxing task of cleaning his guns, and counting ammo. J.B. was thin and a cheerful cynic, with glasses and a weathered fedora. His knowledge of blasters* rivaled even the best traders. Katie, a small mousy girl with brown hair and thick wine rimmed glasses, was in the barracks, curled up with a good book, resting her knee after a run-in with some muty ants.

Her boyfriend, a brown haired, green eyed boy named Dean, was sitting on Jak's hammock, trying to teach the boy some grammar. Jak was a 16 year-old albino from the Louisiana swamps. There weren't any arguments that were prone to the 2 boys, so Katie put her book down, and pulled up the small quilt that was at the bottom of her bunk, roll ing over, and started to drift off. But as she was almost asleep, she heard a voice, drifting across her consciousness, one that she had heard many times before.

'You must tell them, Daughter.' Katie's eyes snapped open, but the voice did not speak again or continue. Katie's eyes drooped again, and she fell into a deep, dreamless, slumber. Katie woke again to a sharp jerk and Ryan's shout of "Fire blast!" Katie was up in seconds, through the curtain, and sprinting down the hallway. She was in the drivers hull a few seconds later, stumbling.

"Was up? 'Nother muty attack?" From what Ryan had heard, Katie was nothing like this before she was frozen, but Deathlands had changed that. It always did.

He smiled like the father he knew he had become for the young girl, and said,"No Katie, I just missed the turn to go get Mildred in Lubbock. Remember, she was the Baron's wife's mid-wife? Well, the baby's doing good, so her work is done."

Katie yawned, leaning into Dean, who had just walked in behind her, and hadn't announced himself. Ryan wondered how she could do that."Oh, well then, come on Dean, lets go tell J.B. Later, Ryan." Katie walked out, still leaning on Dean, saying that "No,I'm not going back to bed, I'm gonna hang out with Ryan." Dean cut in, quieter than his girlfriend so Ryan had no idea what he said. Katie replied:"No, Dean. And yes I am taking the big quilt! You can deal with out it-and me- for 3 hours. Besides, I probably won't see anything anyways, so I'll be back soon."He heard her giggle slightly, and knew that Dean had started grumbling again. He heard knocking then, and Katie's excited squeal, so he figured they had told J.B. the news, and he knew that it would be relaid to Krysty. He turned when he heard the slide of the door, and saw Katie standing there, quilt around her shoulders, looking like a lost goddess, and then, she collapsed.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2

Katie woke to the all-to-familiar ceiling of the wag. She tried to sit up, only to be pushed back by warm black hands "Katie, lay back. You've had a major panic attack, and you need rest." Mildred's voice was relieved, and worried. Katie lowered herself to a half laying position, Mildred had no problem with this, and let her be.

"But Mildred!" The girl protested, "I had one of my serious flash headaches! You know that means that somethings gonna happen!" Katie stared up at the black woman, eyes full of worry and turmoil. Mildred stared back, eyes and expression impassive.

Katie broke her stare, eyes turning away to look for the red leather glasses pouch she knew Dean had been so kind to put her glasses in. You had to be careful with glasses in the Deathlands, because they were extremely rare. Katie sighed as she put her glasses on, looking decades older than her age of 15."Well, now would be as good a time as any. Mildred? Can you bring Dean in here please? I have to talk to him." Mildred nodded, wondering what she needed Dean for. Then she stopped, because you rarely saw Katie without Dean. They were each others ties to the past, each others the time her musings were done, Mildred had opened the drivers hull. She relaid Katie's message to Dean, and the boy was off, down the hall, and through the curtain. He looked around, noticing that her bunk was empty. Then he felt all 105 pounds of Katie slam into him, giggling. He wrapped his arms around her, knowing she would fall over if he didn't.

"Hey you." He said. He easily carried her over to their bunk, laying her down and then following curled together, chastely kissing every once and awhile. The silence was comfortable, until Katie broke it.

"Dean, I think we should tell them. Its getting harder to hide. They would have found out eventually, especially since we're on our way to Snyder." Dean was shocked to see that his Katie, calm, collected Katie, was stressing out,it was getting worse by the second.

He grabbed Katie by the arms,making her look him in the eyes."Hey, HEY, Katie, look at me. Look at me." He saw Katie's deep chocolate eyes,the color enhanced by her closeness."If you want to tell them,then I'll be behind you. Never, ever doubt that I won't be, o.k.? Now, when's the last time you meditated?" Dean looked down his nose at his girlfriend, knowing that she would answer ANYTHING to that look. Dean leaned down at Katie's mumbling asking, "What was that Katie?"

Katie sighed,saying, "Ugh, fine, A month, ok? I know I've been needing to, but We've been too dang busy to even contemplate relaxation!" She leaned against Dean,at his insistence, tapping into the relaxing feeling of Earth surrounding her. But suddenly, her sense of calm was broken by the sound of gunshots. Katie took the gold hilted hunting dagger from under her pillow, and made sure her gun was in its holster, all with in the span of 3 seconds. Then, with more ease than she should have, she fazed through the back of the wag, directing Dean to watch the door so no one could steal the large vehicle. Following the sounds of gunfire back about 6 yards, she found about 30 corpses, and 3 men with automatic rifles. They were spraying round after round at Ryan and his friends, and Ryan and the others were out of ammo, and Jak's throwing knives were far to thin to last against 30 rounds a second. One of the men turned, swinging the rifle to point at Katie after seeing Ryan nod at her. Katie's knife was in his forehead up to the hilt, his gun not even making a full rotation. Katie winced. She'd have to shoot at the other men now, she couldn't pull the blade out when it was that far in, Dean or Jak would have to, 'Well, crap!' she thought. Katie silently pulled her semi-auto uzi, set it to single, and put on the silencer. She pulled the trigger on the second man, the shot going a little low and piercing him in the middle of his neck. She shot at the third man, and the bullet hit home. Katie got up from her crouch, groaning. She heard the others running, and their congratulations. She smiled, wiping sweat from her brow. "Thanks ya'll. Now come on, lets see if Dean handled his end o.k."

"Dang!" was the first thing out of Dean's mouth."That was short. Katie throw her knife?" Nods from everyone." Jak get it out of the dudes skull for her?" More nods.

"Katie finally shoot straight?" This question got an indignant shriek and a whap on the arm from his girlfriend, illiciting chuckles from most of the group. They climbed into the large vehicle, heading off again.


	3. Chapter 3

As they reached the outside of the vill, Katie shoo'ed everyone out, so she

could change. Her outfit was a simple long sleeved t-shirt and some jeans, but was also charmed by Katie's goddess Nyx, so that no matter how many times it was washed, it grew with her. She walked out of the small bunk room as the wag stopped, not losing her balance due to long practice. She walked into the drivers hull, and told Ryan to pull over into a small barn outside of the vill. When he had done so and they had walked into the late Texas sunshine, the confession began.

"Guys," Katie began."We haven't been quite honest with you." She ignored the sudden alarm on the others faces. "Well, its like this...I have special powers."The small words rang true in the stony silence that followed, broken solely by Dean.

"She's not dangerous unless she's really mad, and she controls earth. She draws chi from it, life. It's sort of like Krysty does, only Katie can take it much farther. Oh, and she heals faster when she's around live earth, green like you ran into in Minnesota." Dean explained.

The group was dumbfounded, but they all recovered very was Krysty who broke the silence, tone not judging, but questioning. "Well, wait, who taught you to control those powers? It's not easy,with 100 years of contemplation, but no action."

Katie's eyes sparkled with tears of relief and memories."My dad. Years before I was frozen, I gained my powers through a Change, a change from a fledgling* into a Vampyre. That, which I'll explain in a second, caused me to get my powers. I wasn't the only one being taught by my dad because of this. It was me, Alyssa, Maria, Criselda, and Santanya. We were the Darkside, the american St. Trinian's, Family, and all each other had. I was Earth, Alyssa was Spirit, Maria was Fire, Criselda was Air, and they were like twins the two of them were, and Santanya was Air." She leaned onto Dean, "I got a call from my dad saying that Alyssa had a vision and that we needed to get in a cryogenics pod before 21:12 that day, December 21, 2012*. We climbed into a pod and froze ourselves at 21:11, and we weren't completely frozen when we saw the world explode. Weird as crap sight, s'all I gotta say. Anyways, My dad built a cryogenics lab here in Snyder,"She gestured to the town behind her and continued," and froze the rest of the Darkside. He placed a barrier around the vill to protect it, and just worked to keep it all together, I guess. Dad's immortal, so he was fine . He unfroze everyone when he knew he had to, about..." she trailed off, checking her wrist chron, which had the time and date on it. "3 months ago, give or take a month. Alyssa probably has had a vision about us coming, which reminds me... Everyone take 14 steps back, 18 for you Dean." Her tone warranted no arguments, so everyone did as they were told. Katie stood stock still as 7 dark blurs detached themselves from the shadows and re-attached to a grinning Katie with several pounds of force. "Guys! I thought I'd never see you again!" She pulled herself out of the giggling gaggle of girls, wiping at her forehead, showing a scarlet crescent moon. "Ryan, Krysty, J.B., Jak, Doc, and Mildred meet, Alyssa, Maria, Criselda, Tiffany, April, and Sabby" She grinned, pointing at people as she spoke, grin never fading. "A'ight, I'm ready to see my dad, and get some real food." She looked worriedly at Dean, who had begun coughing, and he gave her a brave smile.

As they walked through the small vill, Katie was giving a memory tour, and was walking towards the square. When they finally did, Mildred and Krysty looked around, and looked at Ryan to see if they could go look around, and he gave the signal for not yet. Katie didn't see the signal and took off running towards the large building in the middle off the square, despite Mildred's warning about her knee. She took the steps 3 at a time, using the momentum to launch herself at the man at the top of the steps, Her squeal of "DADDY!" Could be heard clearly from half-way across the square.

Alyssa, standing next to Ryan to help narrate Katie's tour, laughed, explaining. "Katie was a huge daddies girl, even before we got our powers. Back then, we were just us, but with suicide attempts and boy drama. Katie always-and I do mean always- made us happy, and always tried to focus on us and our happiness, instead of the shit that was happening to her. There was always something too. Idiot boys that tried-and failed- to get in her pants, and wouldn't give up, even after she beat the ever-loving crap out of them. They were in the hospital for about a day, and came back to school with both arms broken, both eyes black, and 1 leg broken. These boys were all football players, and got their asses handed to them by Katie, who was half their size, and one third their weight. She did that, and the boys were so brain dead that they thought she was just playing hard to get, and continued to hound her, even after she put on a restraining order, got a boyfriend, and RE-BROKE their legs. She said it was self defense for them breaking the restraining order, so she didn't go to juvie. Her records were flawless before the first time, and the boys didn't wanna lose their 'girlfriend' so she was good. Anyways, She put others before her,and didn't worry about anything except us." She giggled at the group's expressions. By the time Alyssa's story was done, they had reached the top of the stairs.


	4. Chapter 4

The man next to Katie was an older male version of the girl, no doubt about it. He put his hand out. "Kenny Clifton. I hope Katie wasn't any trouble to you. I hope that my students haven't thrown you off of the peacefulness of the town." This comment was joking, and was met with many indignant scoffs.

Ryan stuck his hand out as well, and Kenny gripped his arm*, and Ryan did the same. "Ryan Cawdor. She wasn't any trouble. Saved our lives more times than I can count, just outside the vill in fact. And not at 're used to background noise, so the non-stop chatter really helps with that. Are they still your students? That's unexpected."

Kenny turned to Katie. "So,healer, Do you wanna get some food? We can go to The Shack..." He chuckled at her multiple nods, and the questions on the newcomers faces.

Katie took a large bite of her rare steak. "Oh, My Goddess this is amazing!" The girls-and Dean- nodded. Ryan poked at his steak, unconvinced. It didn't smell wrong, but most rad poisoned meat didn't. Katie noticed that none of Ryan's crew, except for Jak, weren't touching their food. "Hey!"She said to get their attention."The meats fine. Its all grown and raised and slaughtered in Snyder with no radiation in them. She ran her modified wrist chron with a rad counter in it over the food, the small device glowing an extremely bright green."See? Perfectly fine." She did the same with everyone else's food and drink, the small device always a happy green."Now dig in!" Everyone did so, with renewed enthusiasm.

Ryan considered Katie with eyes that showed no interest. She hadn't even taken taken another bite until everyone was content. She was different here than in the unsafe parts of the Deathlands. But you had to be careful who your trusted and what you did out there. Krysty leaned over, whispering so low that Ryan had to strain to hear her, even though, as always, she was right at his ear. "You've noticed it too, Lover? This change that's come over Katie?"

Ryan swallowed, and nodded. "Yeah. It's like Alyssa said. She's taking care of everyone else before even noticing her own problems. It's kinda weird to tell you the truth." Krysty nodded slowly, not removing her head from his shoulder.

Katie called out, asking if everyone was finished. They were, so they left the surprisingly large building. Kenny had left about half-way through the meal, saying that he needed to get some sleeping arrangements for the group. As they were heading for the car, the girls, who had been in a tight, concerned circle, turned towards Dean as one. Katie detached herself from the group, looking worriedly at the group over her shoulder then looking at Dean again. She whispered, "I'm so sorry." Then, she pointed at him, in a voice that left was full of power unheard of for a 15 year old, and said "Dean Azarath Fritton, Night has chosen Thee, thy death shall be thy birth. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night." Then, out of nowhere, a small bolt of lightning shot out of her finger, zapping the boy in the middle of the forehead. She darted to catch him as he fell, knocked out. She laid him gently on the ground, bending over and checking his vitals. She sighed. He was fine. But judging from the coloring on Doc's face, he was about to blow a gasket. She sighed, putting on her 'Im-a-Red-High-Priestess-so-Don't-mess-with-me' face. Doc was thrashing around, calling the whole town and its 'witchcraft' religion 'blasphemy'.

Katie took a step towards the old man, tapping into her element without realizing it. The air around her grew a misty green, shrouding her. She took another step, tiger lilies growing where ever she stepped. She stopped in front of Doc. "Doc, My religion is not blasphemous. My Goddess Nyx has been worshipped in every civilization, and every empire since before the Vampyre's recordation, and yet you DARE to come into my home and say that? I-" Her rant cut off, knocked short by Dean's coming around. She rushed to his side, anger forgotten. "Oh my goddess! Dean, I'm so,so,so sorry, but you know what happens when your not Marked and-" She was cut off by Deans laugh, soft and not at all forced. He kissed her, something unheard of in public.

"No, Katie, I'm sorry. I can't be your consort anymore,but we'll still have the Imprint, and if all else fails, I can still be your Rephaim and-" This time it was he who was cut off by a laugh and a kiss. Katie helped him up, grunting when he purposely slammed into her, bringing them chest to chest, nose to chin. Katie grumbled. She hated being short. Dean tilted her head back, capturing her lips in his, unabashedly kissing her until catcalls and whistling broke them apart, blushing. "A'ight, lets do this." Dean said.

Katie giggled, adding "Leeeeeeeerooooooy Jeeeenkiiins!" Making the girls and Doc, who had wondered back over, giggling everyone had been doing over everyone else's faces had stopped from the girls when they remember what Dean had said during his mini-freak out.

Suddenly the girls started running towards Katie, tackling her to the ground, questions shooting out of their mouths with frightening speed. Amid that and Katie's requests for them to get off, Ryan couldn't hear anything else. Finally Katie righted them all, and began answering questions. She sighed."Finally! You guys weigh a ton Nyx dammit! Anyways, Yes, I am Imprinted, yes, with Dean, yes, it was freaking amazing*, yes, I wanted too, and no, it wasn't only for survival. Again I say, I wanted to. Now, I say we have a sleepover, because its been..." She checked her wrist chron again. "100 years, 8 months, and 21 days since we've had a sleepover, and we have a lot of catching up to do. She focused for a second, then nodded. "Dad has the houses ready. Everybody in!" She pointed to the van that was a dark blue and a short ways across the parking lot. They did so, ready to sleep.

When they got to the small suburb, they split into 2 groups. Boys and girls(plus Sabby). As they split into 2 groups, there were kisses goodnight, and many goodnights and sleep wells. As soon as the girls had the door locked, they had squealed "Slumber party!" Katie disappeared, only to reappear a few moments later, holding cartons of soda and vines to be carrying more just around the corner.

"Alright people,we're playing I Never. Take your pick of soda and sit." There was a brief explanation for Krysty, and the game was underway. There were many giggles and gasps, and just having fun. There were some really weird things that were drunk to, and many toasts were held for fallen friends. There was one for a girl named Belle that seemed to get the girls particularly down. But soon they were fine, and all of them were giggly and hyper once more.

Katie stood, nearly jumping up and down with the amount of caffeine and sugar she had had. She threw her arms out like a dork, yelling,"Guys! I has an idea!" She giggled, then burped."Oops." She giggled again. "Lets go trash the guys house! Come on! It'll be fun!" This idea heard many agreements, Katie went to the bathroom and grabbed 10 rolls of toilet paper. Then she stopped by the kitchen, grabbing some Duct Tape. "Alright! Grab your toilet paper and head out! I have something to do, so I'll do my part and disappear. You all have your missions!"

They all did their part with amazing precision, getting toilet paper everywhere. A few minutes after they all started, Katie disappeared, taking the duct tape with her. Everyone continued with what they were doing, this being expected. Sabby, using steps cut out of the tree ages old, wound his toilet paper until it was hopelessly tangled. They heard Katie's signal, and silent as ever, they crept back to their dorm.

When they reached their dorm, Katie was the last one in, dragging a semi-conscience Dean behind her. She laughed at the others expression, explaining."I forgot that he needed to be around fully changed Vamps. So, instead of knocking and ruining the prank, I fazed in, grabbed Dean, fazed out, and duct taped the door shut. Simple." She grinned at everyones faces, unsurprised when Alyssa held up her fist.

She bumped fists with her, both of them grinning like crazy. "Wicked! Katie, that's going to be so amazing!" Katie smiled tiredly.

"I know, huh?" Katie yawned, setting everyone off. "I know that I'm not the only one with no buzz anymore, and dealing with the guys will take some energy-" This got a doubtful scoff from the now conscience Dean,"-So I say that we all go to sleep. I have sleeping bags in the hall closet, and ya'll know where the bathroom is, so, bedtime!"

Her statement was met with many agreements, and Sabby and Dean went to the closet, grabbing 10 sleeping bags. They settled down in the living room, everyone in their own sleeping bags, scattered on couches and on the floor. Dean and Katie made a 2 person bag by zipping theirs together. As they were falling asleep, Katie took up a chant, her sleepy voice soft, relaxing, and except for Mildred and Krysty, who listened, half asleep, some people took a verse, and they all sang the chorus.

**"Make us worthy, Make us proud,**

**teach us not to be to loud, we'll try and fit**

**in with the crowd, but we are ."**

Alyssa took a part, voice soft.

"**Better be scared when we attack,**

**We're on to you so watch your back,**

**Feel the fear we're manics, St. Trinians.**

They all began then, even Dean. This was their way of announcing they were home. It was their song, and everyone knew it.

"**Check out our battle cry,**

**A song to terrify,**

**no one can stand in our way.**

**We are the best, so screw the rest.**

**We do as we damn well please.**

**Until the end, St. Trinians,**

**Defenders of Anarchy.**

After that, most of them dropped off into the waiting arms of Morpheus. Katie hummed the few bars of the song that she could remember in her dozing state, turning so her face was facing Deans chest. She lay close, comforted by the sound of everyones breathing. She drifted off, content with everything.


	5. Chapter 5

Me no own!

The next morning, Katie woke to an empty sleeping bag, and the smell of her favorite

foods, omelets, bacon, muffins, and others. She rolled over when she heard Ryan's semi angry voice calling her name, and Dean whispering for him to hush.

"She's still sleeping Ryan. Let her sleep. Remember how many times she took double watch just to let us sleep?" She then heard Ryan's unhappy grumbling, cut off by the clatter of a plate. She sensed Deans presence coming towards her,kneeling next to the sleeping bag. To everyone else, he just sat there, but to Katie, he began to speak, voice echoing in her mind.'_Katie, I know your up, Sweetie. I have breakfast for you. And the sooner we can go to our place, because I know you need to feed.'_

Katie's eyes flashed open. She flung her arms around Dean."Thank you!" She said, over and over. The sudden movement on Dean caused him to tip, and they landed on top of each other, lips locked. Krysty sighed, they were just too cute! She cleared her throat after a few minutes, though.

"Katie, come eat! We saved you some food from the black hole that is Jak's stomach." This comment from Criselda brought the finger from the boy in question and laughs from everyone else. The rest of breakfast passed without incident, and Ryan didn't mention the duct tape incident. After awhile, they separated, each person going to their own places. The darkside had gone to the park and the library, Ryan, Krysty and Mildred had gone to check out the square, and Doc,J.B. and Jak had gone to clean up the toilet paper that hung around the boys dorm.

Dean and Katie were the last to leave the small home, heading out the back door to a small yard, then beyond the only slightly rusting gate, into a large alley, bordered on the outside by mesquite trees and desert scrub. They forged ahead into it, Katie covering their tracks with ease, finding the old site easily in the bright morning. It was the remains of a semi-burned down building, nothing but the walls remained. It was a bright red, and an hard place to spot, even with the eye catching color. They headed inside, Dean flipping the switches, cursing with the lack of power."Let's see if all our stuff is still here." They moved through out the medium sized house, sighing in relief whenever they found something that was still there. They reached the stairs that marked the upper part of the home, climbing hesitantly. The stairs were still sturdy, and they continued to climb with ease.

They saw four doors at the top, peeking into each of them. One held a bed, with a faded comforter and 4 pillows,another held bookshelf upon bookshelf. The third held toys, all kinds, and Katie turned from this one with tears in her eyes. Dean comforted her from the memories of a small boy, always Monkey or Aiden, and the fact that he died at the age of 4.* They turned to the last room, expecting what they saw. The room was filled with every kind of weapon. Gun, barrels gleaming, lined the walls. Katanas rested in their sheaths, which presided on dressers. The dressers were filled with close-range weapons, such as brass knuckles, taser's, and razor blades.

Katie walked slowly up to the dresser marked 'Caution-Sharp Objects' and pulled out a razor blade. She then walked out of the crowded room, grabbing Deans smiled at her, waiting, knowing. He grabbed her hand again, and they headed back to the room with the bed. They sat,Katie fumbling with the small blade. She finally got a good grip on it, and raised her hand to Deans throat. She pressed the sharpened blade lightly against his throat, sliding slowly, drawing a small amount of blood. She stared for a second, then raised her head to the tiny red rubies, licking slowly. Dean shivered with pleasure. Katie then put her whole mouth on the shallow wound, sucking deeply. He moaned. Katie grinned, and soon they gave into their own pleasure, Katie feeding the whole time.

Meanwhile, Doc, J.B., and Jak had finished cleaning the yard of the dorm, and had come inside to get a drink of soda, and find Katie and Dean. There was no sign of them, and a quick call to Alyssa and Mildred showed that they weren't with the two groups out on the town. They quickly searched through the house, coming up empty, as did a quick search of the neighborhood and the surrounding area. "Wait a minute!" Jak said as they began to search the alley way and surrounding mini-forest. "I think I heard somethin'. Its kinda far off though. Doc might wanna head back, given the terrain." J.B. nodded, and though he looked a little put out, Doc agreed and headed back to the small home, muttering something about finding a good book. J.B. and Jak continues on, almost getting lost, until they saw a flash of bright red. They followed their sight, coming across a large house, quiet noises coming from inside. Jak tried the knob, seeing it was locked. J.B. knocked, but received no answer. They took out the pins in the hinges,bringing the door down, seeing as they couldn't get it open.

Katie, upstairs, stopped her feeding, looking up at Dean, looked down at her, both only half clothed. They swore simultaneously, grabbing discarded clothing in a frenzy. They got dressed in a flash, Katie licking Deans wound one last time, closing it. They then sprinted down the hall, towards the armory. Katie pulled the blade from her sleeve, replacing it in the right drawer. She pulled a katana from its sheath, grabbing a sharpener as well. Dean quickly took a dismantled blaster from a drawer in a different dresser, laying the pieces down, and grabbing some oil. Jak and J.B. found them absorbed in their own activities, iPods blasting. Dean looked up. He grinned wolfishly at the two's expressions, and took out his headphones. "Cool, huh? It's all Katie's an' her dad's. After she moved in with him down the block aways, they found this place, and renovated it. Filled it with stuff, more like a storage place. After we started going out and needed weaponry, it just became our place. Sorry if we freaked ya'll out. Oh, and please don't tell the others! This is our place. And if you do tell, well, theres always the brain bleach. Its not a pleasant experience. Trust me." The two men nodded, still looking around.

Katie snapped her fingers, iPod paused. She looked annoyed. "Oi! Quit goggling at my weapons and scat! I gotta finish sharpening my katanas and Dean and my dad are the only ones able to work on all these weapons. We have work to do! Out! Scat!" She held the newly sharpened blade in a defensive stance, an odd gleam in her eye. J.B. and Jak held up pacifying-ly. They backed away, running out the sighed,lowering the razor sharp ninja weapon."Thank Nyx. I thought they'd they'd never leave." She walked out of the deadly room, swaying her hips with looked over her shoulder, smirking to see Dean nearly drooling at the sight."Coming Dean? I gotta fix the door, and I certainly don't want to be alone..." She fluttered her lashes. Dean scrambled to get up, running towards eyes were half lidded, and he was far too eager for his own laughed again, and continued. "And, when thats done, we can get back to where we were before we were so, rudely, interrupted. And this time, I'll reinforce the door so no one can interrupt us." Dean simply nodded, too shocked to think and talk. She didn't take long, considering that she basically made it look like an old abandoned house, gray vines growing over the windows, and making it look creepy. She fixed the door, simply replacing the rusted pin of the hinges with wooden tapers and growing over the door again. She turned to Dean, using her nail to lightly slash his neck, licking slowly, running her hands up and down his chest, under his shirt. She took his shirt off, getting better access to the life blood that flowed through there.

Dean moaned, slipping his arms under her legs and lifting her bridal style, carrying her up the stairs. He put her down on the bed, looking down at her with adoration. "Je vous aime, mon amant, mon à jamais, mon petit combattant, et mon vampyre." He whispered, knowing that she would understand, even in her lust hazed state. She gasped, he never did this! Dean hated learning different languages, saying that one language was fine, there was no point in learning two or three.

She whispered back; "Je vous aime, mon amant, mon à jamais, et mon conjoint." She on the other hand, loved the french word, and never hesitated to use it, but only in desperate situations. At these words, they continued with their activities, passion keeping them from noticing the storm clouds building outside their secret second home.

Translations-

Dean-I love you, my lover, my forever, my small fighter, and my vampyre.

Katie-I love you, my lover, my forever, and my consort.


	6. Chapter 6

Wh00t! I updated! Go me!

I Do not own Deathlands! All rights go to James Axler.

_****_

Katie lay,clothed in some spare pajama bottoms and Deans t-shirt, next to Dean, sleeping peacefully as the rain poured. Dean lay next to her, back to the door, sleeping as well, clothed in just some pajama bottoms. Suddenly, a ringing noise came from Katie's discarded jeans. It was her cell phone, only operable in Snyder. It was ringing the hard bass tune of 'City' By Hollywood Undead. Alyssa's ringtone. Katie grumbled, getting up from the warm cocoon of blankets. "Mm?" Katie voice was weak from sleep, so making noises was all she could do.

" Katie, where are you? It's like after 5 o'clock! And theres a storm! Ryan's freaking himself out, and Mildred and Krysty are too worried to fix him! You need to get home! Now!"

Katie sighed, fiddling with the hem of the too big t-shirt she was wearing. "Aphrodite, you know I can't in this weather. If Erin can't fix it, what makes you think I can get through it? Look, we're at the old armory clubhouse. I've just fed, and Dean just fell asleep and we both know he'll need to sleep after feeding. Tell the others that we're just stuck at that one place, and that I'm perfectly fine. Call me back if you need to. But I'm tired, and the Monsters here have expired, so I can't just get dressed and go like ya'll want me too. Got it?" She heard a sigh, and Alyssa's ok."Thank you. And DO NOT tell the others what we're doing over here! Jak and J.B. almost walked in on us earlier, and I don't need everyone making jokes!

Alyssa snorted "Seriously? Dang. What'd you do?" She could almost hear her sister/friend leaning in, waiting to get the scoop.

"What'd you think we did? We got dressed and acted like we were taking care of the katanas in the armory. iPods blasting, the whole 9 yards. We looked totally innocent." She felt Deans arms around her, pulling her to his chest. "Look Alyssa,I gotta go. Deans awake and I gotta get him something to eat." Dean listened to the pause at their end, not surprised when Katie began blushing and practically screamed "No! Not me you perv! Mhm, whatever. Mk, mk. I'll be back as soon as the storm lets up enough. No- rawr to you to then! ha ha, love you too Aphrodite. Mhm. Bye."

Dean leaned forward, hunched over Katie's tiny body, seemingly as fragile as a birds wing. But he knew better. Katie was the strong one. She was forever there. And even if she didn't look it, she could take down a charging rhino. Dean got up, lifting Katie. She snuggled into him, burying her face into his chest. Katie moaned unhappily. "I don't wanna go back... Can't we just stay here?"

Dean snorted. "Yeah, and give Ryan a heart attack? No thanks. Krysty'd kill us."

Katie groaned. "Rawr. And how long did it take you to learn that? It was sweet. Thank you." After she said thank you, she kissed his cheek carefully. Suddenly, City came blaring from Katie's phone again. Katie sighed again, sliding the device up to answer it. It was Ryan, calling using Alyssa's cell.

"Katie, where in the rad-blasted hell are you? Its nearly 6, and you've been gone for nearly 11 hours! I'm worried, Mildred's worried, and Krysty's damn near having a panic attack! You need to get back. Please."

Katie sighed. She hated it when he went all 'gun-toting-daddy' on her. She was halfway surprised Ryan didn't come looking for her. "Ryan, we can't go outside in this weather. It might not be a chem-storm, but it wreaks havoc on the landscape and makes it hard as fuck to get through it. I can get myself and Dean through it, but not right now. Right now if I try to, then the mud I move will just be replaced by more mud. Look, Dean and I have found some temporary shelter and will be back as soon as we can. Don't worry, mk? Anyways, put Krysty on. I'll need to talk to her if she's as bad as you say she is."

"Ok Katie. But I expect you home by tomorrow. Got that?" Again with the gun toting daddy routine. Katie repressed a sigh.

"Ok Ryan. Now put Krysty on before she starts hyperventilating." She heard Ryan sigh, and his affirmative, then a whoosh of air as the phone was passed from hand to hand. She then heard a deep breath of air.

"Katie! How are you? Are you ok? Where are you? Are you safe? Dean is there with you right?" Krysty fired question after question.

"Krysty! Krysty! Calm down! Dean and I are fine, yes we're safe, and we found an abandoned house that would work until the storm lets up. Calm down. We'll be back as soon as we can, ok? I promise."

Krysty breathed deeply. "Ok Katie. Try to be back very soon. Ryan and I have some news that we want to tell everyone."

Katie made an agreeing noise, preoccupied by the feelings that were caused by Dean rubbing the lower part of her stomach. "Mhm. Bye Krysty." and with that she slid the phone closed. She looked up at Dean, purring with pleasure at the touch of his fingers. She slapped his hand lightly in spite of this, hopping out of his arms. "Come on Dean. You know you have to eat after I feed." She went down stairs, not needing to turn around to know Dean was following her down. She opened a cabinet and pulled out some ramen,a bowl, and a water purifier. She put the water purifier out the window for a few seconds, and pulled it back. She ran the rain water through it couple times, then poured the newly cleaned water into a pot onto the stove(gas). While she cooked for him, Dean put his head against one of the other windows, thanking Nyx-not for the first time- for Katie's quick thinking and great lying skills. They'd kept them from being caught more times than Dean could count. Due to Katie being a red vampyre, she needed human blood daily, and you had to wait until Jak was well and truly asleep for that. It'd taken forever to get used to the albino boys schedule to know when it was safe to feed. Katie tapped his shoulder, bowl of soup in hand.

"Here's your soup Dean. Whatcha thinkin' 'bout? Oh, and let me know if you want more, or if we can just head up to bed."

Dean reached for the bowl, gladly picking up the fork from the tangles of noodles. "Thanks so much Katie. I know how you hate the stereotypes of women being in the kitchen. I would have burned it though. Anyways, I'm thinking about how your amazing lying skills and you quick thinking has saved us from getting caught. Especially that time while we were still in Arkansas and we stopped in that vill. We promised to stick by the wag. And we went all the way in the first time in ,like, forever. Remember that? An' how Jak came in at like midnight and we were just getting started? Jak came in to get his blaster -how he could forget that I'll never know- and I was frozen, but you took it all in stride and came up with a lie in like two point three five seconds. That was really cool." Dean was rambling and he knew it, so to shut himself up, he started snarfing down the soup. Katie giggled, picking up the bowl she had made for herself. She began eating too, only at a much slower rate.

"Well, I do have a supply of lies, just in case I need to cover my tracks. Makes everything easier." Katie nibbled at the noodles in her bowl, not really that hungry from feeding, but she didn't want Dean to feel weird. She looked up at him, not surprised to see him almost done. You lose so many nutrients from being fed on, that once your attention was brought to it, you were ravenous. The handbook said so. They didn't try to make anymore conversation, but the silence wasn't awkward. Just comfortable, no need for anything in it. Dean took their bowls when they were done, putting them in the sink. And they headed up the stairs to go finish sharpening and cleaning the weaponry in the fourth room. Katie took to sharpening the katanas, since Dean was trained better with the guns anyways. They finished quickly, rocking out to their ipods.

_****_

Dean sighed as he and Katie lay down again, relaxing against the pillows. Katie was already asleep, curled up against him. He looked out the window at the storm, unhappy to see it calming down. He held Katie tighter against him, as if that could keep her there; them there, forever. But life goes on, and maybe they could steal some moments, but they had to move with it. Dean looked at the clock next to the door, figuring that it was about midnight. He nudged Katie awake, taking to shaking her when she refused to get up. "Katie, wake up! Come look out the window! Theres a meteor shower!" That woke her up. She was pulling Dean, she was so awake by those simple words. They were by the window, gazing up at the hazy, but visible night sky. There were streaks of different shades of red, blues, and greens. There was also nuke junk, still falling from the heavens, even a hundred years later. It was a spectacular sight. Katie climbed out of the window on to a small awning, then to the roof. Dean went behind her, carrying a small quilt and a tarp. Katie helped Dean put the tarp down, then the quilt. Dean lay down first, letting Katie curl up to him. They lay there, watching the meteors and some nuke debris. Katie breathed slowly and deeply, committing the smell to memory. It smelled like damp earth, rain, and something that was just... Dean. It was so relaxing, and Deans chest was sooo comfy, and the way his chest rumbled when he said the constellations... Before she knew it, she was asleep. Dean looked down at her, not surprised to see her asleep. She almost always fell asleep when stargazing. The only time she didn't was when she was on her own for it. He put his arm down, just studying the stars. They had brought him home more times than he could he could count. They had led him to Katie, as well. He felt Katie stir, and mutter something about Belle. And her mom. He never liked her mom. She was too hooked up to having a perfect family, and having everything right. Katie never fit the bill. Her mom loved her, Dean knew that. She just acted acted different when it wasn't just Katie and her. When it was just Katie and her, her mom was the coolest person ever. She was patient and answered questions, never got snippy. But when there was her sisters, or Monkey, her mom just seemed to clam up. Got snippy all of the sudden. Confused Katie more than she would ever known. She'd... Dean fell asleep himself before he could finish the thought, curling into Katie.

_****_

When she woke up the next morning, Katie was alone, curled up on the now-dry roof, covered by the quilt. She heard Dean making breakfast in the kitchen, singing 'She will be loved' a favorite of her since before the pre-nuke era. She flung the quilt through the window first, using the window frame to swing herself in. She landed with a thump, on the balls of her feet. She got dressed in some spare clothing, jeans that were form fitting and a tube-top. She padded downstairs, hand trailing along the rail. She heard the birds twittering, and as, only she could hear, the sprites giggling about the rain they'd had and how it'd messed up their trails, but how it'd make them so much greener. Katie waved and giggled, quoting her favorite book (She loved books, but her absolute favorite was Peter Pan) "I do believe in fairies, I do, I do." She said while lightly clapping her hands and still headed to the window. "Hey chic-a-dees!" They responded in kind, after they were done, one sprite named Juniper spoke up.

"Hey Katie! Guess what?" The sprite was pretty, as all sprites of all kinds were. Katie responded by sitting on the sill, leaning in. Earth and Air sprites always got the best gossip. They were invisible to everyone, except for Katie and her group. And water sprites got the best news. The best gossip was the kind that Katie got from the sprites. Always true. Juniper spoke, "Well, those newcomers that you came into town with? Yeah, I heard the red-haired woman and her lover outside. She told him the she was pregnant. The black ones the only one that they know knows. According to the tree sprites down by the store, she helped her pick out the test and yelled at her to name it after her."

Katie snorted. "Sounds like a very Mildred-like thing to do. Anything else?

Juniper shook her head. "Just that your friends have been raiding the herb garden again. They picked some herbs that they said were for you to make spaghetti, since the outlanders have never tried it, you know, oregano, garlic, the usual. But for the past couple days they've been picking some rather odd herbs. I heard they were making it into a tea for Krysty."

Katie's head whipped towards Juniper with an odd expression. "Oh dear Nyx don't tell me. Were the herbs Black cohosh, Dong Quai,False Unicorn, Red Raspberry Leaf, and Vitex?" Katie buried her head in her hands when Juniper finally nodded. "Oh dear Nyx... Those are all fertility herbs! All together, plus the amount of sex that Ryan and Krysty have, its no wonder that she's preggo! Remind me to have a protective circle cast around my garden from now on. Or you guys do what you can to keep them from picking any more herbs that aren't for spaghetti. Mk?" She smiled when they all nodded. "Good! Thank you all sooo much!" She heard Dean swing into another verse of their song, and waved goodbye to the sprites.

She followed Deans slightly out-of-tune voice, smelling muffins and eggs and orange juice. She saw him, singing into the spatula, and then flipping over bacon.

"It's not always rainbows and butterflies, its compromise, and it moves oh-slooow. Yeah." He turned when he heard Katie's giggles. "Hey! You love this song! And don't tell me it doesn't describe you and your mom awesomely!"

Katie snorted. "Mhm. Right. I think something more along the lines of 'Hot and Cold' or 'Family Portrait' would do. Much more fitting with the descriptions. And my mothers bi-polar want of perfection." She grabbed some bacon from the pan, and narrowly dodged Dean's whap with a wooden spoon. She stuck he tongue out at him, munching happily on her ill-gotten meat. "Mmmm... You know just how to make turkey bacon. I might be able to make hundreds of complex dishes, but I can never make the stuff." She told Dean the sprites gossip, hitting him lightly when he burst out laughing. "Don't be laughin'! You do know that thanks to me being a red vamp, I could get pregnant. I do have some of your sperm on freeze." Dean froze in the middle of moving turkey bacon to a plate.

"You mean, that we," He pointed to the both of them with the spatula, "Could have a family. Like full on white picket fence, family of 4 thing?"

Katie shrugged. "If we wanted. I'd prefer not to do right now though. I have 2 dads looking after me and WIll be wanting you castrated if we even mention having kids around them. Let's not have that happen. Anyways, we still have like 2 months until they have no say in the matter, and in that time, I can do all kinds of stuff. Clear a path to here from the house, move my garden, cast a protective circle, make a crib, all kinds of shizznit. It'll take allot of work to get ready. Even if we start now, it'll all take about 3-4 months, at least. Not to mention that I won't be able to miss any rituals, so that's gotta be fixed. Speaking of rituals, it's a good thing that we're going home and the storm cleared up. Theres a full moon tonight."

While Katie was speaking, she and Dean had finished pulling their breakfast out of the pans, and had sat down at the table. "That's good," Dean said "Ryan and his crew haven't seen one before, and I know that your getting antsy from the lack of ritual-ness." Katie giggled at the made up term. They finished eating in silence. Katie did the dishes while Dean got dressed. They headed out into the early afternoon Texas sunshine.

_****_

When they reached the back gate, Katie told Dean not to ruin the news of Krysty's pregnancy. "Keep it quiet. Act surprised. Explaining the sprites would be confusing." Dean nodded. They opened the gate, by-passing Katie's large garden. It covered about half the yard, and was full of every herb you could think of, and more. All the herbs needed for a ritual of any kind (like White sage, lavender, Sweetgrass) were there, and everybody knew how to make a smudge stick, and stuff for regular things were there too. Like oregano, garlic, and something else, Katie couldn't remember what. She paused for a second, deeply breathing in the mixed scent of all the herbs. She then cast a circle around a certain part of the garden, covering the fertility herbs that she had kept there."The others know I can get pregnant, and if they want me to, they will get me so. We know that we have work to do, and we'll announce that we want to get so after Krysty and Ryan make theirs." She stood, brushing her hands clean. Ignoring Deans look of fear, she headed into the home, listing supplies they would need for the large project. Dean followed behind in a daze.

_****_

Mk. Quick few notes. All the herbs listed I got from the internet, and all of them are proven, when taken at the right time, to raise your chances of conceiving. And I don't know if this story will end at the births, or continue and cover the adventures of the kids. Tell me which you would prefer. R&R!


	7. Chapter 7

Ok, the translations for later on in the chapter are: "And you guys need to stay out of my garden! The sprites told me about how you used the herbs I told you repeatedly to stay away from! You knew what would happen! Oh my dear sweet grilled cheezus! Did you use them on Mildred too?

Now that thats taken care of, I do not own Deathlands! James Axler does! How ever, Katie and Dean are mine. And the rest of the non-deathlands characters are based off of real people. So they technically don't belong to me either.

**DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATH**

After Krysty had made her announcement and Mildred had, surprisingly made hers of the same variety, Katie stepped up. Everyones eyes got huge. "Katie, your not pregnant too are you?" Sabby asked in his soprano voice.

Katie burst out in giggles. "No. Well, at least, not yet. We're planning though. But not for a few months. I have things to do. Move my garden. Open up a pathway to the house out in the forest. Move more things out there. We have things to do before I can even contemplate getting pregnant." At the others questioning looks, Katie shifted. "What?"

It was J.B. who finally said anything. "So thats what that place was. It's gonna take a rad-blasted ton of work to open that up. And move your garden. That thing is huge!" The rest of the group nodded.

Katie remembered something at the mention of her garden. She whirled, facing her circle. "dnA ouy syug deen ot yats tuo fo ym nedrag! Eht setirps dlot em tuoba woh ouy desu eht sbreh I dlot ouy yldetaeper ot yats yawa morf! Ouy wonk tahw dluow neppah! Ho ym raed teews dellirg suseehc! Did ouy esu meth no Mildred oot?" The circle looked downcast at the girls coded scolding, shaking their heads. "Okay then. Now, its almost sundown. We have-" She checked her wrist chron "- 6 hours until the ritual. In that time we have to: Eat, Gather herbs, make a smudge stick, gather the candles, and set up the spectator section. Darkside, you know what to do. Leave the herbs to me. I don't trust ya'll anywhere my garden now. Anyways, we now have 5 hours 53 minutes. Go!" They exploded in a flurry of motion. Katie was everywhere at once, in the kitchen calling out names of herbs that she needed for spaghetti, she was outside, picking herbs for the ritual, she was leading Ryan's group towards the living room, herbs wound tightly into a braid in her hand, smelling of white sage and lavender. She was in the kitchen again, testing noodles and sauce, telling if more spice was needed. Finally after everything was triple checked and everyone had a steaming plate of spaghetti, Katie finally relaxed, flopping down on a seat cushion, no plate in her lap. She was still full from the feeding earlier. By the time the preparations were done, it was 7'o'clock. She fully relaxed when she saw 2 things. 1) People were singing praises about her food. 2) The time. She had 5 hours before the 'show' started. She didn't know when she had leaned against Dean and fallen asleep, smudge stick in hand, hearing and feeling Dean explain the importance of different herbs in a ritual. Too soon, she was stirring from a dreamless nap. Dean shook Katie, waking her from the light sleep that she had put herself in.

"Katie, hun, come on now. Its almost midnight. We need you up." Katie sat up ram-rod straight.

She put her arms out, stretching her arms and mumbling sleepily, "I'm up! I'm up." She stood, leaning heavily on Dean, still holding the sweet-smelling smudge stick. She walked over to the back door, grabbing her (green) candle. Once she got outside, she pulled some wooden matches out of her pocket, lighting the herb braid. She let it burn for a few seconds, then blew it out lightly, letting it smolder. While Dean handled the explantations, Katie waved the stick in front of and behind everyone, then handed it to Alyssa, standing still for her turn of smudging. Once that was done, Katie took her place at the north of the circle.

Santanya (Air) was first. She was at the east of the circle, holding her yellow candle with a practiced ease. Alyssa, who was spirit, lit her candle, and thanked her element for joining the circle. The tiny flame on the yellow candle bobbed and flickered like it was caught in a windstorm, which was how the rest of Santanya looked like. She merely grinned as if this was normal. Which, Katie knew, it was. Maria went next, the southern part of the circle. Alyssa did the same for her element, and the flame burned larger than it ever should on a candle that size. Criselda went next, Alyssa thanking her element in turn. She was next, and as Alyssa lit her candle and thanked earth, Katie whispered 'Blessed be,' deeply taking in the scent of green earth, wheat field. Alyssa was last, calling forth her own element of Spirit, lighting her purple candle. When she did, she heard gasps coming from everyone but Dean and those in the ritual. She opened her eyes, expecting what she saw. A silver cord of power connecting the five of them. She laughed at the feeling of pure power that she usually felt during the rituals. The joy and raw energy from being so close to your goddess and element, it was simply amazing. Then, out of pure hype, she set her candle down, grabbing an athame from her belt. She then quickly slashed hers, and her friends palms.

She heard hissing and cursing, but told her friends her plans in whispers. They grinned and nodded. They each gathered the blood dripping from their palms, then threw it in their elemental directions. Katie's blood hit several sprites, and then she heard guns being drawn. She panicked, throwing herself in front of the now visible sprites. The other elementals did the same, protecting the odd little creatures.

"Ryan, don't shoot! They're harmless!" The blood from Katie's hand was still dripping over the small things. They sat wide-eyed now, totally opposite of their usual selves.

Ryan held his blaster steady, aim never wavering from the small creatures behind Katie and her friends. Ryan, Jak, J.B., and Doc all had their blasters out, each aiming for a different type of sprite. Only Dean and the girls held their heads and kept their guns in their belts. "Bullshit Katie! They only became real because of your blood! What if they decide they like being permanent? What if they siphon you blood, just to be real? Or they go after the rest of us?" Krysty tried to convince Ryan to put down his blaster, but he put her off with a stubborn shake of his head.

Katie never wavered either, arms encompassing the small, oddly humanoid creatures. "Ryan, they can't do that. They can only have blood of an elemental. And if we don't willingly give blood, they can't be solid. And if they aren't solid, they can't hurt us. They're harmless, I swear on my blaster."

Ryan scratched his chin, blaster in one hand. The creatures weren't muty, and did look rather harmless. Katie swore on her blaster, the highest promise in the Deathlands. Breaking that promise would be an instant death sentence. Katie wouldn't use something like that lightly. "Alright Katie. We won't ace the things. You can back down now." At Ryan's command, the others put their blasters in their holsters.

"Alright then. Guys, back down. They won't shoot." Katie let go of her sprites, giving them smiles and made them feel better. She saw the others do the same. Krysty came over to Katie, and smiled at the sprites.

"So these are earth sprites? Wow. Mother Sonya never mentioned them." She picked up one of the small things, cuddling it. he sprite, who's name was Rosemary, decided she like this outlander woman, and cuddled back.

"I'm not surprised." Katie responded. "Sprites need to be in a magickal environment in the first place, and need to be around green. There isn't a lot of places like that here. Minnesota maybe. No where else, as far as I know. Just here and there. Oh, and Krysty?" The flame haired woman looked up. "You'll be an awesome mom. I know it."

Krysty blushed. "How'd you know I was worried about that?"

Katie smiled a vampiric smile. "All pregnant women are worried about that. Mildred is too. Hell, even I am, and I'm not even pregnant yet! So don't worry. We'll all do great. And don't try to hide it." She nudged at the fading sprites with the toe of her boots, smiling. "The sprites know everything. And I will use them to monitor everyone and everything. They're the only reason I knew my friends were coming two days ago." She smiled sadly. "They're the ones who, when I wasn't allowed to date Dean, helped me date and flirt with him behind my mom's and sisters backs." Her hand had long since stopped bleeding, and the last of the earth sprites faded back into the spirit realm. Krysty could still feel the weight in her arms, until it too, had faded. Katie looked around as Krysty wandered off, and saw that the others sprites had long since faded. Katie tore a strip off the bottom of her tank top, wrapping it around the wound. Glancing at the garden her, she pulled at some aloe in the medicinal section. She squeezed some of the gel from the spine onto the strip of fabric, rubbing into the self-inflicted wound. It stung, but would keep it from getting infected. She tore more strips off her shirt, making her tank into a belly. She bound her friends her friends hands, giggling at their hisses as she rubbed aloe into them. She noticed Jak and Dean staring as she got up, and realized just how much fabric she had used binding her friends hands. Oops. She crossed her arms over her chest, and speed-walked over to Dean. She snapped his jaw closed, arm going back to her chest as quickly as possible. She hissed at him, voice low. "You double stoop! You could of told me how high my shirt had gotten!"

Dean snapped out of his trance, smirking. "Ya, but then I wouldn't've gotten a show then, now would I?" There was a tone in Dean's voice, that Katie knew well. She knew that his hollow had taken over. 'Shit! How do I get the real Dean back with out the others noticing?' She decided to fake it. "Hey guys, Dean isn't feeling very well, so I'm gonna take him to the red house." She was immediately surrounded by the circle, each one asking questions. Mildred came up as well. Katie whistled. Loudly. "Guys, its just a reaction to the herbs. He'll be fine as soon as he sleeps. Away from a group."

The others nodded grudgingly. She grabbed hollowDean's hand, leading him towards the gate. She led them easily to the home, leading the impostor to the library. She pulled out a book that never fit in with the novels covering the shelves. It was a bright pink book, with the word 'Barbie' inscribed on the spine. She tugged on it, and the bookcase swung back from the wall. There was a hidden room inside the bookshelf, and in it sat a mattress, two chairs, and a book. She pulled hollowDean inside the small room after her, and swung the bookshelf closed. She shoved the demon-thing with her husbands face into one of the chairs, tying him in. He was too distracted by the site of her cleavage to try and stop her. Finally, She straightened, and fazed out, changing in the bedroom. She fazed back in, and saw that hollowDean had noticed that the morsel he was so enraptured with had disappeared. He strain against his bonds, yelling. "Yelling won't do you any good Prince." Katie deadpanned. "Walls are soundproof. A bomb could go off in here and the only people that would know are the corpses. You've been in here enough times to know that."

HollowDean licked his white lips with a blue tongue, lust flashing in his eyes. "Yes, but Queen, its always fun to try. You know I love to hear you scream." Katie winced at the blatant innuendo at her sex life with Dean. She knew that Dean was in there, somewhere, but he always needed to be on his guard. Prince was always looking for a chance to take over, always waiting, hunting. He probably thought that it was safe for him to let it down, just for tonight, with the ritual and Nyx's protection, he was safe to let it down. And Prince took the chance. Damn.

"Let Dean out." It was a firm, deadpan command, in a no-nonsense tone that warranted no arguments.

Despite her tone, Prince just chuckled, shaking his head. "Ain't gonna happen Queen. If King in here wants out, you two are gonna have to force him out. I ain't giving up my body to that idiot." Katie slapped him. Hard. "Bring him back dammit. I know he promised you time outside the mind-prison while we were in Arkansas, but in the middle of the full moon ritual is not the time to do so! You need to give me warning when you do this Prince! We have people to avoid when your like this."

HollowDean looked on, disbelieving. "You want me to warn you when I'm taking over our dear King? So you can cover the disappearance of us? And not let me wreak havoc? Queenie, you have lost your mind. There ain't no way I'm warning you of nothin'."

Katie shook her head. "You damn fool. I ain't asking so we can cover our tracks and disappear. Do you listen to the conversations that happen outside your prison? Or is it all blocked out by your arrogance?"

HollowDean glared. "I resent that. And, no I don't. I'm too focused on a break in Kings concentration to notice your meaningless dribble."

Katie snorted. "Arrogant ass." She muttered under her breath. "If you did pay attention, you would know that Dean and I are planning to have a baby. The only reason I would like warning so I can take care of you without worrying about a baby at the same time."

Prince snorted. "And why should I care about some brat that you and King have?"

Katie's look was solemn, but with a hint of hope glinting deep in her eyes. "Because since your a part of Dean, that 'brat' would be as much yours as it would be mine or Dean's. And even though your cold and calculating, you still have a heart. And killing a baby would be to heartless even for you, wouldn't it? Especially if that baby was yours."

Prince thought it over. She had a point. "Alright, you have a point. If and when I take over your beloved King, I'll give you half and hour to hand the prince or princess over to your friends. Any later, and I'll come and get you. And I won't let you go until you give me what I want."

Katie nodded. "We have a deal. If you encounter me on my way back, act like Dean. Don't let the others know that somethings wrong. Ok?"

Prince nodded. "Fine. Now, I'll give you your lovely King back as soon as you untie me, and we shake. I swear on my black teeth."

Katie moved to untie him. "Fine. We'll shake. But if you attack me, I'll personally remove each and everyone of your teeth. Understand?"

Prince nodded, everything about him starting to fade. Katie slit the knots, And they shook, and as soon as they did, Prince's hold completely failed. Dean slipped back into control, and as he did, he proved it was him with a brilliant smile of perfectly white teeth. Then he swept Katie into a passionate kiss, which led to them laying down on the queen sized mattress, which led to Dean grinning wolfishly, saying, "Let's get started trying for that baby , shall we?" Katie grinned back, and I'll just cut off their cause I don't write lemons.

**DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATHLANDS/DEATH**

Mk. That was chapter 8. I decided that Dean seemed too Gary Stu-ish even for an OC. So hollowDean came into existance. I stole it from Bleach, I know, but he needed some flaws. Anyways, R&R!


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's chapter 9 people! I don't own Deathlands.**

Alyssa wrung her hands slightly, biting her lip. She was worried. The air sprites had told Santanya about how Prince had taken over. Dammit. She should've known! Fledglings don't react to the herbs! She should've known, should have done something! "Alyssa, calm down." Maria's command was ignored. Instead she began pacing across the room. Ryan and the others had long since gone to bed in what used to be the boys dorm. She stopped pacing when a brown hand shoved a mug in front of her face, steam coming off the mug in waves. Aphrodite sniffed, and took the mug. Mmmm... Her favorite type of herbal tea. "Thank you. Now, if what the air sprites say is true, and Prince is back, then Katie can handle it. You know that. She's handled him before."

Aphrodite sighed. "Yeah, I know Shaunee, but it's worrying. Katie's gonna be be pregnant soon, and Prince won't hesitate to use that to his advantage."

Boo Bear spoke up then. "Yes, but the sprites also say that she's talked him into a deal. If he shows up, she has half an hour to drop off the baby before he comes after her. They made the deal, shook, and then hollowDean turned back into regular Dean, and they moved on too activities that the sprites didn't stick around for."

Aphrodite cringed. "Did NOT need to know that." Boo just shrugged. "Anyways, Katie only asks for help when she absolutely needs it. Even with hollowDean. She can usually handle him on her own anyways. We just have to babysit." The girls(and Sabby) looked at each other. Babysitting wasn't their thing. At least the baby would have Krysty's and Mildred's kids to keep it entertained. The circle might have awesome rituals, but they totally sucked ass at babysitting. Just then, a knock came at the front door. Alyssa got up to get it, tea in hand, followed by the others. They glanced at each other. Who would be knocking at this hour? They nodded at each other, colored balls of energy beginning to form in their palms. Alyssa opened the door, and said, "Hello?"

A black haired boy stood on the stoop, looking nervous. "Um, hi. I'm looking for Ryan Cawdor. I heard he was here."

Alyssa's energy ball still hovered in her palm, the girl reluctant to extinguish it just yet. "Who's asking? Ryan doesn't seem like a very popular guy just to have people drop by at 3 am."

The boy fidgeted some, uncomfortable with the assumption. "He's my dad. And we got separated in the Deathlands somewhere or other. I went into an unidentified MAT-TRANS and it went with out the others. I ended up here in Texas, and found my way here. I heard from some local girls about the group and knew I had to come. "

Alyssa extinguished the energy ball, you making a signal with her hand for the others to do so also. "Oh you poor thing!" She cooed. "Come in. Ryan and the others are asleep next door, and we have a lot to catch you up on I'm afraid." She grabbed his arm and pulled him in. "I'm Alyssa," She said. "This is Santanya, April, Sebastian, Criselda, Maria, and Tiffany. We have some friends named Katie and Dean that have their own house in the forest behind the house."

Dean was looking around when he walked in, but when he heard his name his head snapped toward the girl. "There's another Dean in the vill?"

Alyssa nodded. "Mhm. He's around your age, or appears so. He was cryo-frozen about a hundred years ago with his wife Katie. Your about 17 right?" She asked. Dean nodded. "O.k. So yeah, they're both around your age. The other Dean has brown hair and green eyes, and Katie has brown hair and brown eyes. Your dad and his group unfroze them in Arkansas. They traveled around the state for lord knows how long. Anyways, your dad and his group, plus the lovely Fritton couple, are due here in about 5 hours. I can get you a sleeping bag after we fill you in on what you missed. We've got allot of explaining to do." And they did. It took nearly an hour to catch Dean up on what he missed, and then they were done with questions and catching up.

Dean leaned back, whistling. "Wow. I did miss allot. So, Krysty and Mildred are seriously pregnant? Never expected that. At least they found the Eden they were looking for before they got that way." Dean yawned. "Can I borrow that sleeping bag now? I ran across town. I am sooo ready to sleep."

Alyssa nodded. "Sure. They're in the closet by the door. Your welcome to the couch. We were just heading to bed ourselves. If you can't sleep, let one of us know. Katie has a huge garden outside with all kinds of herbs. I'm pretty sure that I can find a sleeping herb somewhere."

Dean smiled softly. "Sure. Wake me before my dad gets here, ok? I want to surprise him."

It was Alyssa's turn to nod. "Good night, Wandering Wonderboy. See you in the mornin'." Dean repeated the sentiment, and the girls wandered off. They split into groups of 2, each duo going into a separate room.

"Yeah, 'night." Dean sighed, settling down on the couch.

As Katie walked in from the back door, she heard laughter and smelled breakfast. But there was a new voice, and Katie gestured for Dean to come closer. Dean turned his blaster handles out for a quick draw, and Katie formed a ball of energy in her hand, tossing it back and forth. They crept up to the back door, then threw it open. "Hey, Katie!" Mildred called. "Come meet Ryan's son Dean!"

Katie gaped, accidentally dropping the ball of glowing green energy. It landed on the dead grass, igniting with a small 'poof'. Katie snapped out of it then, sighing. "Erin, Shaunee, can you handle this?" She said, nudging the growing flame. The girls nodded, and immediately got to work with their elements. Katie pulled her husband out of the way, and put her hand up. "Katie Marie Fritton, and this is my husband, Dean. We've heard a lot about you, wandering wonderboy."

Dean looked on in confusion. "Why do you guys keep calling me that?" He asked. "S'not like I did anything amazing. I just found my family after making a double-stoop mistake." Ryan snorted in an 'You got that right' kind of way, and Krysty glared at him. He shrugged.

"Eh, tis better than having two Deans. That'd just be confusing. We could come up with nicknames for both of you and call neither of you Dean." Katie shrugged, her explanation making sense to her, and her alone.

Katie's Dean nodded. "Ok then, nickname suggestions! Place your names now! Me first, since we already have a temp nickname for the other Dean."

They went clockwise around the table, Ryan first, then Krysty, then Mildred, J.B., Jak, and Doc. They all had their personal nicknames for both boys, and the group choice for Katie's Dean was Rephaim, after the book character he'd quoted that first night. The newer Dean's new name was Wandering Wonderboy, and he might not've liked it, but the majority ruled. With that issue aside, breakfast continued, and everything was normal once more.

Krysty put her head down over the toilet, Ryan holding her hair back. She felt that he was worried, and she also knew that Mildred was doing the same thing back in the dorm. Once she was done heaving, she spoke to her still nervous husband. Katie told her that if you announced that your love was your spouse 3 or more times in public legally married you, and that she and Dean were already married because of it. "Ryan, it's fine. Just a symptom of being pregnant. Mildred's probably doing same thing back in the dorm."

Ryan sat back on his haunches. "Yeah, I know. I learned that back in Virginia. But I don't like seeing you like this Lover. You're really vulnerable like this. Even with this safe haven, you still have to be on your guard. You never know what could be hanging in these walls."

Krysty took a sip of water, spitting it out into the toilet to get rid of the awful taste of vomit. "I know Lover. And thats why I'm glad to have you. You'll protect me no matter what's happening. And that's why I love you."

Ryan squeezed her shoulder. "I love you too. You feeling better?" Krysty nodded. "Great."

Krysty stood up, using Ryan for support. "Come on Lover. I'm hungry. I want something like... pickles and ice cream. Can you go get me some? Katie said that there was something called a 'convenience store' down the block. I'm sure you and J.B. could go down there. Katie can help you guys if you need it. Plus, Katie has read tons of stuff on pregnancy. She says that following cravings can help with the sickness." Ryan shuffled, unsure. "Please, Lover?" The flame-haired woman begged, hands clasped.

Finally, Ryan relented. "Alright Lover. I'll do it. But Katie or Rephaim will have to come with us. I still don't trust this place. And I'm taking my blaster. I don't care if this place is the Eden we were looking for, I'm still not completely trusting of it."

Krysty hugged him at that, jogging into the living room to ask Katie. Then she darted back. "She says she'll go. Thank you sooo much Ryan!" She kisses him on the cheek, and he smiles.

By the time they get home with the pickles and ice cream, both Mildred and Krysty are craving them, and Katie gratefully hands the bag over to the pregnant women, flopping on the couch. "Girls, I don't get how ya'll can stand your men. We took a shortcut to the mini-store, and at every rustle, and every little noise, their blasters were drawn and ready. They scared three neighborhood kids, countless sprites that I was whispering too, and about 5 bunnies."

Mildred "Yeah, I know right? It's totally trustable here, but we-"She gestured at the two older women. "Are the only ones that trust it. It's ridiculous.

Krysty nodded, mouth full. She glanced at the two women next to her. Then they all burst out laughing. J.B. and Ryan just looked at each other, shrugging. Must've been a girl thing. Just then, Dean, Jak and the Wandering Wonderboy walked in, shirts around their necks. They were covered in dirt and sweat, and Katie's mouth dropped at the sight of her husband,asking as she tried to shut her mouth: "Dean, Jak,Wonderboy, what've you guys been doing?"

Dean wiped his face with his towel. "We've been making a fence for the red house. You know how hard it is to figure out a yard with enough size for your huge ass garden, plus room to take care of it and still have room for a shed? Plus, we gotta make cement for a porch, and all you gotta do is clear plants to make the place visible."

Katie stood up slowly. "And like thats so easy? I'm the one that's gonna have to move the garden. I'm the one who's gonna have to upset the structure of the whole forest. I'm the one that's gonna have to deal with the sprites. I'm the one that's gonna help Krysty and Mildred give birth, while probably pregnant my self. And what are you gonna do? That's right, you're gonna make cement and a fence, and then pass out while me and my friends play mid-wives. You're gonna baby-proof the house and deal with Prince. That ain't as hard as you make it seem Hun. So hush." She got closer and closer to Dean as she spoke, and by the time she had finished, she was chest to chest with him. She smirked as she heard a series of 'Oooohhhh's coming from behind her. She giggled as Dean stood slack jawed at her response. Then she squealed as he wrapped his arms around Katie's waist, twirling her. "Dean Azarath Fritton! Put me down! Your all sweaty!"

He pouted, setting her on her feet. "I thought you liked me all sweaty."

She giggled, holding him close with an arm around his waist. She stood on her tiptoes, lips to his ear,whispering. " I do, but only when I make you that way."

Krysty looked up at that. "Katie! I didn't know you and Dean were like that!"

Katie blushed. Hard. "You heard that, did you? Heh, yeah... Oops..." Katie knew she was avoiding responding the question, but she didn't really care. Having Prince knowing of her sex life simply because he was there when it happens was bad enough, but she didn't need people that were outside inside her husbands sub-conscience knowing the details as well. That'd be waaayy worse.

"Awkward..." Hissed Dean quietly, blushing like his wife. If looks could kill, then the one Ryan was giving him could've killed him six or seven times over. He winced at the look, hugging Katie closer to him. If Ryan wanted him, he'd go through a stressed-out Katie to get to him. Hard to do, even if she will be pregnant. The brunette might have been small, but she had taught Jak some new moves, and the albino teen was the best fighter in the group.

Ryan looked as if he would tear the boy in two in about three seconds. Katie was his daughter, blood or not. And if what they were implying was true, than the only reason the boy didn't have a bullet through his skull is that Katie was quicker on draw than he was, and she now had that shield power, and the fazing... Yeah, shooting Dean wasn't a very good idea.

Just then, Kenny (A/N:Member him? Katie's real dad?) walked in, breaking the awkward silence. He had a look of almost glee on his face. Katie squealed and (again) launched herself at her dad. He gave her a hug, holding her with an arm. Katie kept in hand in Deans though. "What brings you here dad? I wasn't expecting to see you until lunch. You missed the ritual, by the way."

Kenny smiled down at his daughter, his voice holding joy in the tones. "Well pempkin, I have good news do you , and bad news. Which do you wanna hear first?"

Katie immediately put on her thinking face, lips pursed, and her longish brown hair twirled around a finger. "Bad news first, so I can have good news to fall back on."

"Alright then. Bad news first." Kenny sat down on the arm chair next to the door. "The bad news is, is that starting tomorrow,which is Moday, anyone below 21 is going to have to go to school. And being cryo-froze doesn't count, so you and your friends gotta go too Katie Marie." The group plus Jak and the other Dean groaned unhappily. _School._ The bane of every child's existence. Kenny grinned, the very look subtracting 20 years from his face. "Oh, don't groan Darkside! I've made some changes to the school administration. I've turned it basically into St. Trinians. The only rules are: no murder, and no leaving before the bell at 3:40."

Katie squealed a that. St. Trinians was her favorite movie! Going to a school like that would be amazing! Then she grew wary. "What's the good news?"

Kenny hoisted Katie onto his knee as if she weighed nothing, clasping his hands over her stomach. "The good news, oh gooberwitts, is that I give this house, and it's neighbors, to ya'll. You can do what ever you want to them, short of tearing them down. That you can't do." They all chuckled. Kenny spoke again. "I expect all of you guys down at the school by 7:50."

Katie and the Darkside groaned, while Wonderboy and Jak grinned hopefully. Maybe this school place wasn't so bad.Katie took Jak and Dean aside to explain what do at this school. "A'ight, Jak, Wonderboy, First we get our uniforms. Then we go to class, which proves to be quite boring, or-" she flashed her glasses, the light catching on the lenses and blocking the view of her eyes, making it impossible to tell what the girl was thinking about. "-Or, if what my dad says is true, it will be interesting indeed..." Wonderboy and Jak didn't look very hopeful anymore. Katie bit back a mirthless laugh. Wonderboy had already been to a school of some sort back in Deathlands, and would be used to it, but Jak would go crazy. She could already tell.

The rest of the day passed without incident, and they all slept in the living room once again.

The next morning, Ryan dropped all of them off in front of a low, brown building. Katie led them to the office, where she grabbed uniforms for all of them. They split up to get changed, and Katie and Dean were the first ones out. Katie hadn't altered the outfit, the semi-short skirt stopping a few inches above her knees, the shirt untucked, stockings on. The tie was loose around her neck, and a hat with the St. Trinians crest was on her head. Dean was sure his jaw dropped. Katies friends giggled. Jak, Dean, and Wonderboy had torn the sleeves off their shirts, and weren't exactly sagging their jeans, but the material was low on their hips. They did this so they could have greater range of movement, but right now, they weren't really focused on their clothes, it was more so on the sway of Katie's hips as she walked over to the office to pick up their schedules. She walked out of the office about two minutes later, holding several small slips of paper. "Ok, we all have the same schedule except for 8th period. I have 'Expanding careers' what ever the frag that is, and the rest of ya'll have Art 1. Ok?" The girls nodded, but the boys still stood where they were, slack-jawed. Katie heard Nicole,-the pre-deathlands and pre-vampyre part of her psychee- giggling. 'They is mentally undressing you chica-chic.' Then Nicole giggle-snorted. 'At least Dean actually knows what we look like. I don't want to imagine what's going through The wonder twins minds right now...' Katie mentally snorted herself. 'Neither do I. That's why I'm not thinking about it. Now, the wonder twins? Really?' She could practically hear her psychee shrugging. 'Their practically David and Wes from Glee. The wonder twins suits them.' Couldn't argue with that logic. 'Touche Nicole. Touche' Katie smirked. 'Time to get this show on the road...'

Out loud she said: "Alright, 1st period is..." She paused, getting her bearings. She pointed down the hall closest to them. "This way." They followed her down the hall, stopping at door 101. Katie opened the door, expecting chaos, and she wasn't disappointed. There was a poker game in the back of the room, and it looked like things were getting intense. At the front of the room, the promethean board had been torn down to make room for a small group of students alchemy notes, and what looked to be some sort of array. On three desks sat notebooks filled with even more alchemical equations, and a large portion of desks had gone to what looked like automail technicians. At the large teachers desk, another group of kids was working on sharpening a large variety of knives. Katie thought that she would seriously like this class as the group split up.

Wonderboy,Dean,Alyssa and Maria had headed over to the poker game, and were being dealt in, Jak was sharpening his multiple knives at the teachers desk, April, Tiffany and Sabby had wandered over to the automail, and surprised the kids by actually knowing things about the advanced prosthetics, and Katie herself had gone over to the array. She walked over to find the teenagers in a argument. "And I'm telling you Shawn that theres no way that this array-" He pointed to the board "Will produce even a pound of gold, let alone a Philosopher's Stone! We've gone over Edward's notes over a thousand times! The encryptions are just too thick to break!"

The other child rebutted: "And I'm telling you Will, that this array will produce a Philosophers Stone! I've gone over the notes myself!"

Katie broke in then. "Excuse me? Did you say 'Edward'snotes?'As in Edward Elric? As in the one who married Winry Rockbell and completely turned Equivalent Exchange on its ear? That Edward Elric?"

The one named Shawn nodded, looking suspicious. "How'd you know so much about him? Your an outlander."

Katie shrugged. "Only partly. Born and raised, right here in Snyder. I was raised on stories of Edward and Alphonse Elric. Names Katie by the way. Katie Fritton. I'm the daughter of the Baron."

That raised Shawns eyebrows. "Really? Well no wonder you've heard of Mr. Elric. Your father comes by once a week to give alchemy lessons. He's decoded Mr. Elric's notes, but he refuses to tell us what they say. Do you wanna take a look?"

Katie looked at him with more excitement than he's ever seen. "Do you really have to ask?"

Shawn shook his head. "Apparently not."

"Ok then. Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'll have a look at those notes." She hurried over to the large collection of tomes on the desk, lifting several without a problem.

Shawn and the other alchemists eyes got huge. It took a library cart with everyone pushing it to even get five of the books out of the room, and here this girl with no obvious musculature was lifting 6 or 7 as if they were no more than common picture books! "N-need some help with that?" Shawn's friend Will stuttered.

Katie smile was small, unfocused, all her attention on the book she was holding. "No thanks. I got it... What are all of your names by the way?

Shawn nodded. He started pointing, putting names with faces. "Ok, Katie, this is Jacob, Chris, Nina, Tim, and Will. We work on the arrays, and other stuff, and Nina works on automail as well."

Katie smiled at them all in turn. When she got to Nina, she grinned larger then before. "Automail too? Wow. Mind teaching me some?"She flipped the book in her hands closed and tucked it under her arm with the others. Then she jerked her thumb at her friends at the automail station. "They only know so much, and it'd be refreshing to discuss some alchemy theories about-" She blushed uncertainly. "-Certain things."

Nina nodded understandingly. "Oh, no problem. I've had some theories of my own. We can compare and see. And sure, I always love talking about automail to someone who's willing to learn."

Katie grinned again, blush fading. "Great! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll start un-encrypting the books. It might take awhile, so I'll take some with me to my next class." Katie opened the tome again, turning her back to them. As she sat down, she called: "Oh! And the secret to making Philosopher's Stones are human souls. I'd stick with lead to gold. Tis a lot less messy." The others paled. Just who was this girl?

_That's how the first 7 periods went, at least. The others found ways to amuse themselves, and Katie sat in a desk, nose buried in an alchemical text and pen jotting down notes. At lunch, she did sit with the group and focused on them for half an hour, but you could tell she was itching to get back to her notes, seeking out new knowledge. Her 6th period went the same way, and as she happily realized, Shawns friend Jacob was in that same class, and she showed him what she had done so far, and they went their separate ways after she gave him a copy.

8th period held a break in the monotony, for those who were watching her.

In 8th period, it started out rather normal. But when Matt and his wanna-be gangster groupies walked in, Katie knew she might as well hide Edwards notes before they spotted her. She started to put the current notebook away, but seeing Nina stopped her, and she called out to the young alchemist/automail mechanic. "Hey Nina! Come see what I have decoded so far!"

Nina spotted her amid the noise and movement, and started to head her way. She was surprised to see Matt beat her there, and she could see Katies face darken, and the decoded notes and Ed's notebook clutched to her chest. One of Matt's groupies -Nina vaguely recalled his name being Arian, but he, for some reason preferred Air-wheezy.- moved behind her, pulling at the braid the girl had put her up in that morning. Still clutching the items to her chest, the girl swept his hand away.

Using that distraction, Matt grabbed the notes from her arms, almost ripping the decoded notes. She clung stubbornly to her notebook though, tucking it into the small purse that Nina didn't notice she had. She then stood slowly, the air around her glinting an earthy green for a split second. Matt said something she didn't catch, tossing the notebook from hand to hand, then opening it sideways, flipping through it as if it had a flip-note. Nina herself groaned. These idiots were going to ruin the binding on one of the few alchemical notes left in the Deathlands! She stayed put though. Katie seemed like the kind of girl who could handle herself.

**And theres the chapter! Sorry it took so long. And Yus, I did make make myself into a persona in my characters mind. So, haha. R&R!**


	9. god im so sorry

Katie groaned as Matt and his cronies beat Nina to her. "What the hell do you want, Matteo?" she sighed, clutching the notes to her chest. He grinned.

"Nothing much, what about you, /Nicole/?" Katie scowls.

"That's not my name, dickmunch."

Katie feels a tug on her braid, and relinquished one of her hands to pull her hair loose. Matt uses the opportunity to grab at the notes, almost ripping them. He manages to snatch the original, though. Katie makes a small green purse out of green elemental energy, putting the notes inside and locking the zipper in place.

Then, she sighs, standing. Matt thumbed through the book as if it were a flipbook, groaning. "How the hell can you understand this?" he complained.

"With intelligence, meat head, now fuck off." Katie snaps, grabbing at the book. Matt 'tsk's, snapping his fingers. Katie's arms are immediately pinned behind her back. She twists and pulls, testing the grips, but they remain firm.

"Have you been working out, Matheu? Usually it takes five or six cronies to back you up, not this measly duo."

Matt's fist flashes out, catching against Katie's jaw. She slowly returns her head to it's original position, spitting blood onto Matt's shoes. She catches Nina's eye, minutely shaking her head. Nina nods, leaning back from where she's risen. Katie stands as straight as possible and smirks. "Weak shit." she says, and flips the two holding her over her shoulders into Matt, snagging the notebook from the air, snatching her purse off the table, grabbing Nina and darting out of the classroom.

When they've holed up in a classroom Katie's pretty sure holds the math club, she begins apologizing. "Sorry for dragging you about like that, but we needed to abscond. They'll be pissed to high hell." She peeks out into the hallway. "The cost is clear, I know somewhere we can go." Grabbing Nina's shoulder, Katie manages to transport them to the other's class. Once there she whoops, and promptly falls onto her face, passed the fuck out.

Dean rushes to her side, flipping her over onto her back. Alyssa offers some smelling salts, but Dean waves them away, instead clawing a thin bloody scratch into his arm, moaning "Oh, /Rose./"

Katie's eyes flash open, and she launches herself at Dean, landing in his lap and making him topple over, a snarl on her lips. "/Mine./" She growls, and slams their lips together. Sabby wolf-whistles.

Nina blushes as the two continue to kiss. Then she waves. "Hello, uhm. I'm Nina. Are they... going to stop, anytime soon?"

Tiffany grabs a bowl and leaves as April laughs. "Not until she gets back with that bowl, no."

Nina shrugs. "Okay. So, what's there to do?"

"We have paper, if you want to draw and help 'Bastian and I refresh our memory with automail."

"Sure, why not."

Sure enough, when Tiffany returns the bowlful of water ends up all over Dean and Katie's heads. They splutter in surprise. "Dude, what the hell?" Katie shrieks, hands flying up to hold her shirt closed as Dean squirms.

Tiffany smirks. "Maybe now we can get an explanation from you on why you decided to BAMF in here?"

Katie starts to rebutton her shirt. "Oh, yeah. That. Well, I kinda pissed off Matt."

"How?"

"I threw his cronies into him."

"Why?"

"Because they were holding me back?"

"Why?!"

"Because Matt's an asshole and I sassed him."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. He punched me too. Fuckin' ow."

Dean launches to his feet, dumping Katie on the ground. "He _what_?" He shouts. Katie looks up at him, gesturing at the bruise spanning her jawline already.

"He hit me, Dean." Katie says. "I'm fine. If I hadn't been able to take a hit, I wouldn't have caused myself the pain."

Dean deflates, sitting back down on the floor, looping an arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, that's true."

"Exactly."

The bells rings out above their heads, signalling the end of the day. Katie sighs. "Nina, I'll get your stuff, give me a moment." Then, she closes her eyes. Nina's bag falls on her head. "Ow, shit! My aim is off." but she passes the bag all the same.

She rises, pulling Dean with her, rubbing their noses together. April and Bastian pull faces.

Katie laughs, a high, trilling sound. It contrasted with the low baritone of Dean's chuckle, and Nina was struck with a sudden loneliness at realizing that these two were pretty perfect for each other.

Katie leads them out, and Ryan's van meets them out front. Katie bids farewell to her friend, and they go home.


End file.
